-
Just as Far as the Lighthouse, Girl
Yesterday I was walking up the stoney streets of Cascais, on my way to run along my most favorite path in the globe: from Boca do Inferno (lit. “mouth of hell”) to Guincho beach, overlooking the Atlantic. I was intercepted by a phone call that my presence was requested in Sao Joao for Indian food […]
August 11, 2007
-
I Crossed the Ocean
…to get this haircut. Any body in Cascais with the least strand of hair-sense knows (the infamous) David from W2 Stylists in Monte Estoril. I’ve missed him. David said he affectionately refers to all us girls who left Portugal as “the mystery girls who came and went.” I like that monniker. (Or, as Agent B […]
August 10, 2007
-
Well, To Be Honest
I can’t get past the strange feeling that I never really left Portugal, but that I just happened to go on a really long vacation. A year long vacation. And I took all my stuff with me. I’ve gone to a few of my old favorite places–the Salamandra with Jasmin, the Indian restaurant with Cristina, […]
August 7, 2007
-
Familiar Streets, Salinger on Family
Portugal is familiar as ever. And I do mean familial-er. The uneven stone streets of this land reach out and greet me as a sister because I, too, am uneven. And we will keep on walking, dear. I might start including scraps from my scrappy journal, as I write them. My tone betrays my own […]
August 6, 2007
-
Home, a Definition; or Home is Where the Obedie Dances
I’m writing from London Heathrow, en route to Lisbon, and then on to Christian Associates’ annual staff conference. I can’t wait to return to Portugal. I have that excited/exhausted nausea from skipping across time zones during the night. I feel a bit like a little girl on those groggy mornings when I knew I was […]
August 5, 2007
-
Our Stories Are Currency
I’ve spent the last few days in upstate New York with family. My parents met in this town at age 17. The story goes that Dad fell in love when he first watched Mama walk out of Five Corners Pizzeria. But an amazing thing happened when they married: their two Italian families really became one. […]
August 3, 2007
-
Reflecting: Kettles, Window, Pain
I just figured out how to upload photos from my mobile phone. I mesmerized my Poppie today with my Nokia’s ability to morph into a camera. I am very fortunate that all four of my grandparents are still living. But two of them suffer from Alzheimer’s, and one quite severely. And that makes my heart […]
August 1, 2007
-
Ramen at the Lord’s Table
I have some not-so-healthy habits. I stay up too late. I drink too much coffee. I eat things that remind me of college, like ramen noodles and mac-n-cheese. These are non-meals, but I do enjoy real meals, and find the conversation with friends as much of a feast as the eating. I am eating solitary […]
July 30, 2007
-
I Am Where My Feet Take Me
I have just returned after an intense last week of class with my wonderful Fuller cohort in Pasadena. Please forgive me for the extended blog absence. As one of you mentioned, seeing that bloody Harry Potter post each day for the last week has been quite irritating and horrendous. My apologies. I might offer the […]
July 29, 2007
-
Come to Me, All Ye Laden With Potter
This morning I discovered one of my possible contributions to society: Harry Potter Therapist. I was out getting coffee with Mackenzie last night, and we heard that the other coffee shoppes were staying open till 1am to accommodate the frenzied Potterites. For at midnight oh one, bookstores released Rowling’s, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows […]
July 21, 2007
-
“He Calls Me To Be A Life Again”
(for Rachel and her dreams) some re-discovered words from Buechner’s The Alphabet of Grace : Beneath the moonlit drifts of sheet, I turn in my sleep and draw up my knees…And with my knees drawn up, I dream I am sitting down. I am sitting on a stool at a bar, and my glass has […]
July 21, 2007
-
(This is) How Family Works
You might remember me mentioning the awful fire that destroyed the Simple Way community house, and how you could help Shane Claiborne and company rebuild. Do you know how some in the Family have just responded? They gave the Simple Way the keys to their building, and said, “It’s yours now, because you need it.” […]
July 18, 2007
